


Streamers & Slow Burn

by 2bros5ft



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Angst and Romance, Anxiety, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, Bromance, Comfort, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gamer Kozume Kenma, Gay Panic, Grocery Store, Hinata Shouyou & Kozume Kenma Friendship, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pain, Slow Burn, Streamer AU, Streamers - Freeform, Tsunderes, University Student Bokuto Koutarou, University Student Hinata Shouyou, University Student Kozume Kenma, University Student Kuroo Tetsurou, University Student Oikawa Tooru, twinkawa
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2bros5ft/pseuds/2bros5ft
Summary: KozuKen is a 21-year-old streamer in his junior year of university. Majoring in business and minoring in engineering leaves only a little bit of time for him to make money from Twitch AND his education, until he crosses paths with someone at the grocery store. And his robotics class. And his Discord mentions?
Relationships: Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 11
Kudos: 126





	1. Chapter 1

"Alright chat, we didn't hit the goal this time, so you gotta kick it up a notch on Saturday," Kenma spoke softly into the mic, pausing to glance over at a sleeping Hinata behind him.

"I'll try to get Shoyo on next time, alright? Nobody tell him what FNAF is, I told him it's like Papa's Pizzeria, so don't ruin the surprise." He smiled to himself at that one, the ginger was always so trusting of Kenma.

The chat flooded with Pogchamps and "SHOYOOO"s to let the college student know of their excitement. He clicked over to his calendar to check his class schedule for the week--it was almost winter break, so exam-prep was the only thing his classes consisted of. 

"Seeing as it's a Wednesday night, I probably shouldn't be up past 3..." His eyes lingered over the clock in the bottom-right of his screen, to which he was startled to find the truth. "OKAY, it has been brought to my attention that it's 3:05, so this is gonna be it for tonight, guys," He closed out the Minecraft window on his second monitor and turned back to face the webcam.

"This is it for the night, Kindles. Make sure to follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @kozuken_games, and on my YouTube channel, KozuKenGames, where I post the clips that YOU vote for on Twitter. See you this weekend, KozuKen signing off." He held up a peace sign before clicking "End Stream", and shoved his headset down to rest on his shoulders.

As he leant back into his chair, the faint chime of a Discord notification echoed from the headset, prompting him to close Twitch and check the notif. His eyes were drawn right to the red circle at the top of his DMs.

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_u gonna be in lab tmrw?_

**_kozuken5_ **

_nah can u get notes 4 me in case prof gives a lecture?_

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_kks will do_

_u heard the new meg album? iwas making fun of me but body and crybaby slap_

**_kozuken5_ **

_not yet ill listen tmrw when i get groceries n shit_

_hinata doesn't know what hes doing in there_

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ofc he doesnt lol_

_im going to bed dont stay up too late dude_

**_kozuken5_ **

_i wont, night tooru :smirking_cat:_

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_gn!!_

Kenma placed the pink Razer headset back on his desk, turned off the monitor, and stood up. He groaned as he stretched and felt the blood gain circulation to the rest of his body. He swiveled his back once left-- _crack!_ \--once right-- _crack!_ \--and slipped his way under the blankets of his cheap dorm mattress. He tucked his Pusheen plushie under his arm and tried his best to let sleep overcome him. He usually had trouble falling asleep due to his racing mind, but the student's body was so beyond exhausted that he couldn't stay awake for long with his head on the pillow.

~

"Kenma,"

"Psst, Kenma,"

"KOZUME!!!" The _thwack!_ of a pillow met the side of Kenma's head, startling him awake.

"Mfm, what?" He groaned, rubbing his eye with the heel of his palm. He blinked a few times to establish his surroundings, propping himself up on his elbow.

"I'm going to class, okay?" Hinata was putting on deodorant and shoving books mindlessly into his bag before hoisting it onto his right shoulder. "It's already 10:30 and I didn't want you to sleep in, you'll lose credits. See you later, Kenma!"

The streamer sat all the way up and grabbed his phone as the door shut. 20%. _Probably should've charged it last night._ He plugged it in and opened Instagram to see Shoyo's latest spiking action shot, which he liked, and a green ring around Oikawa's profile picture. Kenma's eyes were met with a shirtless Oikawa spamming all 17 songs of Megan Thee Stallion's new album, _Good News_. He tapped "Reply to story" and quickly typed out "damn okay fruity :flushed: go off ig" before closing the app to check Twitter--a hellscape, as always. 

He checked the top corner of the screen--62% and 11:16am. He shoved the blankets off of him and grabbed stuff from the drawer to change into. He opted for a red and white flannel over the tee he picked up from the campus store (Tooru's a messy drinker), a pair of navy blue boxers, and some charcoal grey joggers. He scooped up the clothes Shoyo had strewn onto the floor and dumped them on that firecracker's bed. He brushed out his two-toned hair and tied it back before fastening a baseball cap over his head. He tugged his shoes on and grabbed his phone, keys, wallet, and what little was left of his sanity before heading out of the dorm room and down towards the bus station on campus. 

He scrolled through his Discord server as he sat on the clammy bench of the bus stop to find more than a few notifications from _#suggestions_. 

**_sleepingwhisper.bagel_ **

_@kozuken5 r u gonna be in the uni smp?_

**_o.w.o.syndrome_ **

_@kozuken5_ _ @sleepingwhisper.bagel WAIT OMG YES ARE U?? _

**_badbichnewwhip_ **

_guys cmon dont pester him abt it hes prob busy_

_...but yea that would be sm fun ^v^_

**_sweater.wet.her_ **

_OMG GUYS IMAGINE HE N TETSU_BEEFD <3_

_@kozuken5_ _pls sir :pray: pls it would be so cool :pray: <3_

Kenma had gotten a few emails regarding a new SMP, but hadn't really looked into it much, as he didn't usually stream with anyone else--unless he was able to rope Shoyo into something. He ignored the mentions as his attention was quickly shifted to the hum of a bus pulling up to the curb.

He stood up from the bench and made his way onto the bus, showing his pass to the driver as he walked up. The ride towards downtown was rather boring--not much scenery aside from the other cars on the road--but luckily, it was a short ride.

After about 10 minutes, he was able to get off next to the pharmacy and walk nearby wherever he needed to go. He stopped in the pharmacy first to pick up some tiger balm and melatonin before going to the boba shop next-door. He got coconut milk tea with classic tapioca pearls, and wandered around a bit before remembering his grocery list. He stopped in Maruetsu Petit and grabbed a basket--he wasn't going to be buying much. He calmly made his way through each aisle, scanning the shelves for something he and Shoyo might need for their dorm.

He only had a few things in the basket--instant noodles, some yakult, a loaf of bread, peanut butter--but he decided to treat himself to a slice of apple pie. He made his way to the bakery section. He spotted a few triangular boxes, which he assumed were what he was looking for, so he made a beeline right for them when- _CRASH!_

"HAHAAA! Bro c'mon get up, get up!"

"PFFT! Okay, okay, yeah, we gotta get outta here, man,"

Kenma was suddenly on the floor, his basket tipped over on its side. He sat up and began to scoop his things back into the basket.

"Oh, shit, sorry! Bo, you idiot," The taller man flicked the other in the ear. He was a great deal taller than Kenma, to the point that he could tell even when not standing next to him. He had messy black hair strewn in every direction, mostly on just one side of his head, though. 

"Ow! You're the one that pushed me anyways!" The accomplice protested--he was rubbing his ear, yet still smiling. He wasn't as tall, but still definitely had some height on Kenma--not to mention his black and silver locks were rather eye-catching. 

"Here, you need help?" The black-haired man extended a hand to Kenma to help him up, which he accepted. "Sorry about that, heh, you have a nice day!" The man was blushing, seemingly out of embarrassment, and ushered his friend quickly out of the store while snickering to each other.

_Hm,_ the streamer thought to himself. _Maybe I should be more aware of my surroundings...eh, whatever. I just want my pie_ _._ He shuffled his way over to the boxes--one slice of apple pie left. He reached for the slice, but winced as he extended his side. Gingerly, he tapped the area to see what was wrong. _Mfm, well now I'll have a nice bruise on my hip. Sexy._

He placed the slice in his basket, paid, thanked the cashier, and left with more pain than he had anticipated having that day. As he exited through the double doors, a receipt on the ground caught his eye. Written in blue pen, it read: _Sorry for knocking you down! Here is a drawing of an owl!_ 🦉

_What a strange_ _day._

Kenma checked his phone--12:43. The next bus arrived at 1:00, so he made his way back to the bus station. 

_**Kenma** _ _**:** tooru_

**Oikawa:** _yes kenma_

**_Kenma:_ ** _ur a senior_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _this is true_

_**Kenma:** _ _do u know anyone super tall_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _...me? im 184cm :)_

**_Kenma:_ ** _smh i mean besides u? black hair maybe?_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _ooooh does someone have a crush??_

**_Kenma:_ ** _shut up twink_

**_Kenma:_ ** _nevermind ill figure it out myself_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _nooooo ;^; come back i promise ill be good_

**_Kenma:_ ** _tall, black hair, has a dumb friend_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _0.0_

**_Kenma:_ ** _what_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _sounds like a guy in the volleyball club tbh, name starts with a k i wanna say?_

**_Kenma:_ ** _wow super helpful._

**_Oikawa:_ ** _hey cmon it was!!! ;^; i think he streams im not sure, could be a rumor_

**_Kenma:_ ** _k thx tooru_

**_Kenma:_ ** _bus is here gtg_

**_Oikawa:_ ** _ur welcome!!_


	2. Chapter 2

"Shoyo, I'm home!" Kenma called, slipping off his shoes by the door. As he looked around the room, his gaze was met with Hinata lying face down on the floor.

"Uh...Shoyo?"

"Mrgmmghgm,"

"You don't say," He sat cross-legged in front of the athlete. "What are you doing?"

"Well," Shoyo began, rolling onto his back. "My life is a disaster."

"Okay, and? You’re a college student, of course it is."

"Yeah, I know, I know, but...I have a big problem." He buried his face in his hands, promptly revealing large pit stains--Kenma nudged the deodorant closer to him in hopes the ginger would want to use it.

"What? What did you do?"

"Just," His face reddened underneath his palms. "You know how the new iPhone comes out soon?"

“...Yeah,”

“Well, my computer was selected to win a giveaway!” Kenma’s hand cupped over his mouth.  _ Oh no.  _ “Um, and something happened to it?”

“Is that a question?”

“Just,” Hinata slid the closed laptop towards him. “Just see for yourself.”

Kenma gingerly opened it, and stared at it for a bit.

“Shoyo,”

“Yeah?”

“What am I looking at right now?” The sophomore fell silent. “Do you wanna explain why you think there are about...seven ads of rendered anime tits on your  _ school laptop _ ?”

He shook his head against the ground.

"Shoyo,"

"I just wanted a new phone," Hinata replied, rolling back over. "I can never face the university tech support again, can I?"

"I mean, I don't see why you can't," He rubbed the back of his neck. "Was he upset?"

"I don't know! He was laughing a lot...am I gonna die, Kenma?"

"Look, Shoyo, I'm not an expert here. Why don't you just go up to him and explain? Maybe you'll clear your conscience and  _ not _ have him think you’re a pervert."

"This is worse than when I served to the back of Kageyama's head, what am I gonna do?"

"Do my words mean nothing to you?"

"The more I think about it, the worse it is. What was I thinking, Kenma?"

"Okay, well," The older boy pulled himself up from the floor. "I'm gonna leave you here to wallow in...that. I gave you advice, take it or leave it, Shoyo."

While his roommate continued to groan on the floor, Kenma placed the loaf of bread and instant noodles on the table, followed by emptying the rest of the contents of the bag into their mini fridge. He crumpled up the plastic bag and tossed it into the trash.

As he made his way over to his setup, he glanced at his roommate to see him furiously typing something out on his phone. Turning back around, he turned his monitors on and adjusted the headset. He was greeted by an orange glow and red dot on the Discord icon, prompting him to click it. Expecting a message from Tooru, he was instead met with a message from someone he had never met before. 

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ hi :) _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ uh do i know u _

Whoever they were, they were offline now. Awaiting a response, Kenma opened up the Minecraft launcher. His mouse lingered over the Twitch Studio icon, taunting him in a way he had never felt before. Streaming was his job, how he made money--and sure, it was fun sometimes--but at the end of the day, it was still just his job. But this time was different. Even with a lamenting Hinata on the floor of their room, Kenma couldn't help himself from wanting to just play a game with someone else. But who? Who could he possibly want to stream with? Certainly not Tooru, and Hinata was preoccupied. Those were the only two on campus he ever really had a friendship with, anyways.

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ saw u copied on the smp email _

_ thought maybe it was the same as ur discord _

_ lucky me!! _

_ unless i have the wrong person :flushed: awkward _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ depends who ur looking for ig _

_ i did happen to get copied on an smp email so u prob have the right person _

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ whew ok nice _

_ r u streaming today :3 _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ not sure, maybe _

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ if u wanna stream with someone, ill be on hypixel with a friend of mine _

_ my twitch is the same as my discord lol _

_ oh i should send u the server then!! _

_ https://discord.gg/4qkrPyVx _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ k thx _

He clicked the "Join Server" button, and was brought to a humble, rather low-quality server with around 10 members. There were 4 text channels--#rules, #general, #planning, #no-mic--and two voice channels. Kenma noticed two members were already in one of the voice channels before being bombarded by messages in #general.

**_kozuken5 has landed._ **

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ welcome :D _

**_b.owl_ **

_ yuhhh gte into it!1!!1 _

_ wiat whos this?> _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ :flushed: oh hi kenma _

_ fancy seeing you here _

**_b.owl_ **

_ BRUH WHAT  _

_ who r u :sob: _

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ lol idk they were on the smp thing _

**_kaash_money_ **

_ whats happening _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ :rolling_eyes: read the messages luv xx _

**_kaash_money_ **

_ oh ok _

_@kozuken5_ _hi_

**_kozuken5_ **

_ whats tooru doing here lmao _

_ also who r u ppl _

**_b.owl_ **

_ JOIN VC :D _

_ pls :pleading_face: _

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_ ooh yeah wait _

_ @everyone  _ _ new member, join vc for introductions!! _

"Shoyo," he called out, not taking his eyes off the screen. "can you like...shut up for a bit? I'm going on a call."

"Mrrghhrnmmr,"

"Okay, thanks."

Kenma adjusted the headset over his ears, and fixed the stray pieces of hair coming loose in the front. Shoving up his sleeves, he clicked the channel.

_ [Chime] _

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Yuhhh get inTO it!!!"

_ Hm, that voice sounds kind of familiar. _

"Ayyy, what's up, dude?"

_ So does that one...I must be finally losing it. Finally, the end. _

"Uh, who's who? I'm not looking at the call, I'm on Hypixel." He asked gingerly.  _ I don't know what I'm expecting their answers to be, why am I nervous?  _

"Uhh, should we turn cameras on?"

_ Silence.  _

_ [Chime]  _

"Hey, guys,"

"Oh my goddd, hey Akaashiiiii,"

"...Hi Bokuto."

"GUYS. Are we turning our cameras on or...?"

"Yeah, sure. Is the new member here, too?"

"Yeah, hi. You can call me Kozuken." He switched Minecraft over to his primary monitor and had discord open on his secondary one. He glanced over at the call to see--

_ No way. This has to be a joke.  _

Kenma had never opened DMs with Tooru so fast in his life.

**_kozuken5_ **

_ TOORU _

_ TOORU _

_ TRO _

_ TOORY _

_ TOORU _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ WHAT _

_ WHATS HAPPENING  _

_ HUH _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ i know one of these guys _

_ :eye: :eye: _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ OOOH _

_ WAIT WHAT _

_ WHO _

_ HUH _

_ HOW _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ yknow this morning??? _

_ when i texted u abt like whoever som1 u know or smth idfk _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ IM SORRY U LOST ME _

_ WHAT _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ BRUH i cant believe u _

_ it was LITERALLY like 2 hours ago u are insufferable _

_ the guy wih the hair tand the and the like tallness _

_ yea _

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ :eye: :lips: :eye: _

_ i got nothing man _

_ WAIT _

_ OHHHHHHH _

_ :smirk:  _

_ oooooooooh u like tetsuuuuuu _

**_kozuken5_ **

_ HEY I NEVER SAID I LIKED HIM WHAT _

_ WHERE DID U EVEN GET THAT FROM _

_ wait _

_ WHYA RE U IN AN SMP SERVER U DONT STREAM???? _

Tooru didn't respond after that. Ultimately, Kenma was forced to turn his attention back to the call. They had been talking to each other that whole time, he just had a way of tuning people out. Now that he looked back, there were four people in the call aside from himself.

"Hey, sorry about that," he said, nervously. "I had some other business to attend to."

"No worries, what's your username?" A green border had lit up around the image of "Tetsu", as Tooru lovingly referred to him. Even though he was only visible from the shoulders-up, it was clear he was built.  _ The twink DID say he was in the volleyball club, I guess. At least the second half of his username makes sense now.  _ His shoulders were broad, but not threatening. He seemed like a gentle giant of sorts--comforting. Maybe the messy hair helped in diffusing his...image.  _...He's kinda hot. NO, wait hold on, I didn't--that's not--I mean...who am I even trying to justify this to?  _

"Well, THANK YOU FOR ASKING! It's 'bowl-toe', spelled B-period-O-W-L-period-T-O. All lowercase, okay?" The second screen replied, lighting up the image of an arguably  _ more  _ muscular man. He had silver hair with black roots and streaks that fell in a point on his forehead and formed a sort-of "M" shape around his face. His face had a beaming smile, it was almost painful for Kenma to look at.

"Not you, idiot," Tetsu replied. "I'm kidding, that was a joke, I love you."

_...So are they dating?? Well, since he's taken, I should probably reel it in. _

"Kuroo," The third screen emerged. "be a dear and please stop flirting with my boyfriend. Get your own." This man was different from the other two. He was a lot less bulky, and seemed to be rather subdued. He had short, shaggy black hair that seemed to be something of a grown out buzzcut--except maybe with curly hair. Hard to tell. His face held a neutral expression, although he didn't seem to be upset.

_ Wait. So...what? Are they dating? Are THEY dating? Is anyone here actually dating? How did I get here? _

"Oh, you heathens!"  _ There's a familiar voice.  _ "Why don't we all introduce ourselves to our new friend, hm?"

"Tooru, you are not a new friend of mine, I've known you since h--"

"Oh, shush,"  _ Did he seriously just "shush" me?  _ "I'll start as an example. I'm Tooru Oikawa, I'm the tallest one here, and I do not stream. I'm just here because I'm friends with everyone and don't want to be left out!"

_ Seems pretty accurate.  _

"Okay, I'll go next!" said the second screen. "Name's Koutarou Bokuto! You can call me Bo or Bokuto, if you want. I'm NOT the tallest, but I am the ~thiccest~ of this group! Oh, and I'm on the volleyball team and club--wing spiker."

A deep sigh came from the third screen.

"Hi, I'm Keiji Akaashi. Junior, journalism major. Somehow dating the aforementioned Bokuto. And since we're mentioning our height now, I'm the shortest relative to the other giants."

"Oh, c'mon Akaashi, don't sell yourself short," Bokuto remarked. "Mans is standing at six feet tall!"

_ Oh, you've got to be kidding me. _

"Well," Kuroo began. "I do have a few comments about some of these introductions. One: Oikawa, quit sucking yourself off, okay? I'm the tallest of the group, you're still shorter than Bokuto. And two: I usually stream with Bokuto and Akaashi like once a week, if we can."

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"....Oh! I'm a Scorpio." He replied with a beaming grin that challenged Bokuto's. "Kidding, kidding. I'm a senior majoring in business and minoring in biochemistry."

"Alright," Oikawa interjected. "and our guest?" Kenma unmuted.

"Kenma Kozume, just call me Kozuken," He spoke meekly. "I'm also a business major and minoring in engineering...and I'm 170cm."  _ Why did I say that? I'm going to die. _

A hush like no other had fallen over the voice chat. Kenma had neglected turning his camera on until that point, and he  _ definitely  _ wasn't going to now. Tooru's face was beet red and he was visibly having trouble breathing. His shoulders heaved and oh man, was Kenma glad his mic was off. The three other men had almost identical expressions on their faces. What was it? Shock? Embarrassment?  _ Second-hand  _ embarrassment, maybe? Whatever it was, Kenma was not a fan of it.

"...You guys okay?" He spoke up. A pit had fallen in his stomach when he saw Tooru graze over to the "unmute" button.

"AHAHM--Okay, okay--okay, yeah, yep....whoo...alright," Kenma just put his head on the desk at this point. Tooru's abundance of stifled laughter was suffocating him. "Whew, okay, okay. Ahem, uh, gentlemen. People...are sometimes--stay with me now--under six feet tall. NOW, I know this may be a shock to you--"

"Can it, Tooru." Kenma interjected.

Thankfully, this caused an eruption of laughter from the group. They were laughing far more at the demise of Oikawa than at the obscene height difference that had become apparent.  _ At this point, whatever.  _ Kenma turned on his webcam, revealing his appearance to the others. If he could see all of them, why shouldn't they be able to see him? Upon opening his eyes, Kuroo's face was struck with panic. 

"My god. Bokuto, Bo, look," he prompted the other male to pry his eyes open as well.

"No way. Dude!" At this point, Bokuto had become the embodiment of (☉_ ☉). "Uhh...sorry about earlier, heh."

"Oh, no. What did you two do?" Akaashi spoke up. "How do you guys even know-- you know what? It doesn't matter. Kozuken, I apologize on their behalf." Kenma didn't really know what he was expecting them to say or do, really. At this point he'd rather forget it even happened.

"No, really, sorry! I know we apologized earlier, but you didn't get hurt or anything, did you?" Kuroo stared at the screen intently.

Kenma grazed over the fresh bruise on his hip.

"I'm all good, really," A little white lie never hurt anyone. "Can we just drop it? It's in the past, I don't care."

"Have you guys ever heard of a little context?" Came from a puzzled Tooru. 

"For once, I agree." Akaashi had spoken up.

Before they could say anything, Kenma took the reins on this story.

"TLDR, grocery store, they bumped into me, I fell, one of them drew me an owl. All good." Bokuto beamed at the mention of his artistic expertise. 

"I'm not really following, but then again, when am I?" 

"Maybe you just need to pay attention."

"Wow, I didn't know someone replaced Akaashi with Iwa-chan." Oikawa proceeded to pout like a toddler for the next thirty seconds.

"So," Kuroo began. "can I have everyone's usernames?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, sorry for the late update! I have no official schedule I'm just updating when I can, but thank you for all the support!!!

"Alright, everyone's in?" Kuroo asked the group.

"Uh, I think so. Oikawa, you're not joining?" 

"Not this time, Bo. I just like to watch." The brunette replied with a wink.

"Boo! Uncalled for, gross." Bokuto's look of disgust was almost audible.

"Hey, I'm hilarious and charming, you lot don't appreciate me enough." He said with a pout in his lip.

"Start the game, c'mon," Akaashi spoke up. "They'll make it known if they aren't in."

Chimes of Hypixel party invites echoed through the call, each followed by a click of acceptance. Luckily, everyone's Discord username matched their gamer tags, but Kenma was sure he would've been able to figure out who was who anyway. Akaashi's skin seemed to be pretty normal, just a Minecraft version of himself, maybe? Bokuto's was seemingly on-brand for him--a dirt block skin wearing a supreme shirt. Kuroo's skin was giving Kenma second-hand embarrassment, to which he promptly held his head in his hands. _Why._ It was a shirtless character in a snapback, muscles and everything. Kenma's skin vaguely resembled Solid Snake from Metal Gear, but of course a Minecraft skin isn't the most accurate way of portraying a character.

The characters crouched and punched at each other in the Bedwars lobby as the numbers ticked down to begin.

Kenma aimlessly clicked around as the game began, collecting resources and blocks for bridging. It was almost as if he went on autopilot for this round, but he wasn't terrible at it. It was uncomfortably quiet, not even Tooru was speaking up. The occasional clearing of a throat or sniff was all the noise coming through. 

"White on left," Kenma broke the silence.

"Got it," Kuroo replied. "Shit, don't got it, knocked me off. Fuck, okay, Bo on left, now!"

"What? I'm at mid, I can't help!"

"Don't you have a fire charge?"

"No? Why would I do that?"

"Akaashi?" Kuroo questioned.

"Busy rushing red, their bed defense is shit I'm gonna take 'em out,"

"Fine, I got it," Kenma cut back in. Rapid clicking and the tapping of keys was all that came through following.

Silence fell over the call not long after. It wasn't a matter of discomfort, they just didn't have much to say. 

"Music, anyone?" Tooru asked.

"He lives! Sure, what're the options?" Kuroo asked. 

"Uhhh, anything really. I'll narrow it down to three: DOJA CAT, kill your husband for his manor and car, or whiplash."

"Whiplash?" Akaashi asked.

"Yeah," Kenma stifled a laugh. "Do the whiplash one, do it."

The bot chimed as it joined the voice channel. The blonde crouched in the resource gen to go look at the music queue.

 _Oh, man. This is a good one._ The first five on the list told him all he needed to know. 

**_m1lkbre4d.is.served_ **

_ch!play better than me doja cat_

_ch!play where is my mind pixies_

_ch!play crybaby megan thee stallion_

_ch!play i cant handle change_

_ch!play perverted elita_

As the minutes passed, teams were eliminated one by one, games were won, games were lost---it all blended together a bit. The same mundane banter cycled through again and again, mostly sticking with just the game at hand. Kenma found himself growing bored of it, just waiting, collecting resources, not much conversation to keep him entertained. As a team, they worked pretty well--considering this was their first time doing 4v4v4v4's together. He shuffled around in his thoughts for an excuse to leave the call, he would rather laugh at Shoyo's technological misfortunes than sit in silence in a Bedwars game. He loved this game, but this conversation was as dry as Ben Shapiro's wife. 

"Hey guys, I think this is gonna be my last round," He finally muttered.

"Aww, what?"

"F,"

"Sorry, my roommates got an issue with something, yeah," He justified.

"Sucks, alright let's finish out this round though," Kuroo seemed to be the leader of this group, he always spoke with such authority.

"I might be on later, just ping me," It wasn't a complete lie. His eyes drifted over to the clock in the bottom-right corner--4:45pm. _Have we really been playing for that long?_

The game came to an end not long after, the other team had stats, Kenma was their 54,061st kill. They didn't stand a chance, but it was good to get used to playing with the group. 

"Alright, I'm out, guys," He said through a sigh. "Just ping me if you guys play later, I might be on."

"See ya,"

"Okay, later,"

"Aw, aight,"

"Byeeeee!!"

Clicking "Hang Up" gave the blonde almost too much relief. He slipped the headset down around his neck and stretched his arms up and back. Feeling the blood course back through his shoulders and arms was always refreshing after gaming for a long time, and he leant his head onto the back of his chair. 

"Shoyo,"

"Yeah?" The ginger's voice was muffled.

"Are we making dinner tonight?"

"I mean...I wasn't going to. You can, if you really want,"

"Ugh, I really don't," Kenma's hands covered his face. "Dining hall?"

"I'm down," His sheets rustled, Hinata's head popping up from the blankets.

"Good enough for me," Kenma took the headset off and rested it on the desk. He spun around to look at his roommate. "Leave in an hour?"

"Yep! I gotta shower so that works out," The sophomore stood up with a grunt. 

Kenma's phone vibrated--Discord notification.

**_tetsu_beefd_ **

_yo sorry abt the lame chat lol_

_bo and i are setting up an among us game after we eat if u wanna join_

_i think oikawas playin too but idk_

_anyways go help ur roomie lmao_

He toyed with the idea of replying, he really did. His fingers typed out a response, deleted it, typed another, and deleted that too. _What would I even say? "Haha, yeah that sucked, among us is cool though!" That's dumb, borderline mean._ Turning off his phone, Kenma took down his ponytail and combed through his hair with his fingers. 

~

As they made their way to the dining hall, Hinata rambled on about the upcoming game that weekend and how excited he was to get back to games that weren't just practice. Shoving open the enormous wooden door, the building was warm and inviting in comparison to the brisk Autumn evening they had faced. Kenma got cold easily, which meant even in 45°F weather his nose was already nice and rosy.

The boys each swiped their card and made their way to the tables. Kenma got himself some udon noodles and garlic bread, while Hinata was piling up the spaghetti and meatballs across the room. Kenma sat at the table they usually snag, knowing the sophomore would eventually figure out where he was. He pulled up his sleeves, blowing on a spoonful of broth before being promptly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Hey," He turned to see a tall, dark-haired guy seemingly a year older. "Mind if I eat with you?"

"Oh, hey Akaashi," Kenma replied, glancing up to acknowledge his presence. "Go ahead. Uh, my roommate's gonna be joining too, but he might take a little."

The older boy's eyes were quiet, dark, serene--all the things Hinata wasn't. It was...refreshing. His slender hands set down his tray, stacked with a few onigiri and a bottle of San Pellegrino. Akaashi was polite in everything he did, from the way he set down his food, pushed in his chair, everything. He wasn’t a messy eater either. Hinata was still across the hall doing god-knows-what, so Kenma was left without a conversation starter. It seemed so was his guest.

“So…” The blonde began. “I was a little confused earlier in the call,”

“Mhm,” Akaashi replied, muffled by his food.

“Are Bokuto and Kuroo like...together? It was kinda hard to tell.” He was met with the senior’s pointer finger as he finished his mouthful.

“Mm, well,” Akaashi started. “Not really, no. Kuroo’s single but I have a theory they’ve hooked up a few times before. I’m with Bokuto but...I don’t know. Things have been weird lately.”

Kenma stayed quiet, eyes focused on the words that left his mouth.

“Probably TMI, honestly, but...eh,” The dark-haired boy took another bite of his meal. “Why do you ask?”

“Hm? Oh, no reason. Just curiosity, I guess.” Why can’t I take my eyes off his hands? The junior took another sip of the hot soup before him. 

“Hey, Kenma! Sorry, I had to take a call for a sec,” Hinata cut in, peppy as always. “Oh, hi! Shoyo Hinata!” The sophomore eagerly outstretched his hand, which Akaashi graciously shook.

“Keiji Akaashi, pleasure to meet you.” He flashed a look of confusion at the blonde.

“Yeah, sorry, uh, Akaashi this is my roommate; Shoyo this is one of the guys I was on call with earlier.” 

As the three ate, Hinata somehow managed to keep talking about something. It wasn't annoying, though--if anything, it was impressive that he hadn't choked yet. When there was finally a lull in his monologue, Kenma spoke up again.

"So, Akaashi," He said, not looking up. "You gonna be on tonight? Kuroo texted me something about an Among Us game, I don't know,"

"Oh, uh...nah. I'm kinda busy tonight, y'know. Classes and shit, papers to write,"

"Yeah, makes sense, makes sense...next time?"

"Yeah," He smiled to himself. "Next time."

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave feedback in the comments for what you want to see, I'll take suggestions into consideration ;) I hope you enjoyed!!


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